Rise Above The Mess!

Month: December 2012

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2013 is just around the corner, so this is the perfect opportunity to kick it off right.

Smoke detectors are a great invention. They save countless numbers of lives throughout the year, are inexpensive and keep working quietly all year long. That is until they start singing the “low battery chirp” at 2:30 in the morning. And they never sing this song together. It’s always a solo performance which precedes clever sleuthing on your part as you try to figure out which one is the culprit. This year, be proactive and go out and buy enough 9 volt batteries for all your detectors and change them all at the same time. Alkaline batteries will last a year or more, or you can really do it right by getting lithium batteries. These babies are pricey, but are advertised to last up to 10 years in smoke detectors.

Start taking better care of yourself. No, I don’t mean running out and buying yourself a sports car. I mean take better care of your health. And, you don’t have to do anything monumental, either. Start with something as small as portion control. Every meal doesn’t have to leave you feeling like you’ve consumed a thanksgiving dinner. Have a salad instead of bread. Don’t skip desert, just have less. If you’re a smoker, try cutting out one or two cigarettes a day. Convert your “smoke break” into a “health break” by spending the 15 minutes walking instead of lighting up. Every little bit helps.

Skip the New Years Resolutions. Nobody ever keeps ’em anyways. (Remember the Nordic Track machine in the guest room that is now nothing more than an $800 coat rack?) Instead, create conditions for success by establishing realistic goals for whatever you want to achieve. For instance, if you want to lose some weight, set goals in small, but continuing increments. In our minds, 5 pounds is much more achievable than 50 pounds.

For many folks, the new year renews the pledge to get organized. And I’m not just talking about people who could easily be starring in an episode of the TV show “Hoarders”. Perhaps it’s the spare bedroom that has become the catch-all room. Maybe its as small as the “junk drawer” in the kitchen. For a lot of folks here in the Valley of the Sun, its the garage. Where ever it is, start the organizing process by picking up one item at a time and asking yourself “Have I used or needed this in the past year?” If the honest answer is yes, then its a keeper. If not, then make plans to get rid of it. Sooner or later, you will be down to a manageable pile. Remember what I said about creating conditions for success? Give yourself a realistic goal concerning getting organized. It’s like eating an elephant; you can’t do it in one bite. But after many small bites, the elephant is gone.

2013. A brand new year. And it’s right around the corner. If this is the year that you are going to get serious about organizing your garage, here are some tips that will help.

Give yourself enough time to get the job done. If you’ve just moved into a house and only have a few boxes to deal with, then a couple of hours will do the trick. But if you’ve been parking your car outside for several years ’cause it won’t fit in the garage, then it’s probably going to take at least a full day. The actual organizing process consists of 3 parts: Separating, Categorizing and Storing. Lets get started.

Separating

This is going to be hard for some folks. Really hard. Start by making small signs that read Keep, Donate and Trash. Next, physically go and touch every item that is in your garage and ask yourself this question. “Have I used this in the past year?” If the answer is yes, then it goes in the pile marked keep. If the answer is no, then decide if its good enough to donate to a charitable organization or if its junk that you’ve been storing for years. Place the item in the appropriate pile. Now do this for everything in the garage.

When you are done, there should be three piles. The good news is that you are only going to have to focus on the keepers. The trash pile is self-explanatory. The donate pile is really easy. If there are just a few items, load ‘em in your car or truck and drop them off at a collection point. If you have a lot of items or large items, call your charity and they will come and get them. Lets move on with the keepers.

Categorizing

Regardless of which type of storage system you’re using (shelving, cabinets, ceiling-hung or a combination of several), you want to make your organizing system “user-friendly”. If not, things won’t stay organized for very long. We advocate the separation of long-term storage items (things you use infrequently like seasonal decorations, the Christmas tree, luggage, etc.) from the things that you use on a regular basis ( bikes, sporting goods, yard tools and strollers). The long-term storage items need to be placed up high, since you only need them once in a while. The short-term items need to be placed low enough so they are convenient to get to.

Regardless of your storage system, start with the long-term items and get them up as high as you possibly can. Once this is done, you’re ready to tackle the short-term items. The items that you use the most should be stored closest to the door for convenience. Other items can be stored by groups as necessary. Another reason for grouping your items is that by default, it’s a basic form of organization unto itself.

Getting Help

Organizing a garage can be an overwhelming task. It may be prudent to consult a professional organizer for guidance and assistance. The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) has chapters throughout the country. Or, you can contact a garage storage professional such as your local Monkey Bars Storage dealer. They will provide you with a free consultation regarding your particular garage storage needs and make cost-effective recommendations to transform your garage organization resolution into reality.

Only eleven more days until Christmas. It’s time to get serious about doing some shopping. Remember last year when you waited until Christmas Eve and did your shopping at Walgreen’s? Not that your better half didn’t appreciate the Canada Mints and Yanni’s Greatest Hits CD. I’m sure they were really impressed.

But this year, you can do better. Much better.

There is still time to contact your local Monkey Bars Garage Storage dealer and get something they really want. Garage organization.

Choose from the wall-mounted and patented Monkey Bars shelf / rack system, a ceiling-hung rack or two, a garage vacuum system or maybe even that epoxy garage floor coating they’ve been talking about for months. A bike rack would be a great stocking stuffer, too.

And if you call them now, you can have it installed before the big day. Heck, they’ll even help you load up your new system after they finish the installation and put a red bow on it for you.

Boxes and boxes of ornaments. And lets not forget the tree in that giant box. It’s all stashed away in the corner of your garage. ‘Tis the season.

We all love Christmas and the wonderful decorations that come with the season. But those decorations are taking up space. Lots of space. Now that you’ve moved all this stuff, maybe its time to start thinking about getting the garage organized before you have to put it all back in the corner on the floor.

If garage organization is in your future, consider this. The Monkey Bars Garage Organization System stores more of your stuff in 1/3 the space of conventional storage systems. And all your stuff is off the floor, too. We use the proven principle of separating long-term storage from short-term storage. Long term items like Christmas decorations, go up high on the shelf (which is rated to hold more than 1,000 pounds every 4’); while the items that you use more often such as bikes, golf clubs, folding chairs and yard tools are hung on movable bars and hooks within easy reach below the shelf.

Most installations can be completed in less than a day, and the entire installation is warranted for life. Best of all, when the installation is complete, we even help you load all your stuff onto the shelves.

So if you want to get organized before you take down Christmas or have the need to start next year off right, call us at 602-714-0033. You can also check out our website at http://www.azgarageconcepts.com.

Organization is something that is normally different for every person. However there are things in every home that are the same. I bet that if I came to your home right now you would have a few items from each … Continue reading →